Beverly Hills man charged with murder in overdose deaths of model and friend who were dumped at hospitals
A Beverly Hills man has been charged with murder in the drug overdose deaths of two unconscious women who were dumped at hospitals in Southern California, prosecutors announced Tuesday.
David Brian Pearce, 40, also was charged with two counts of selling, transporting or furnishing a controlled substance, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said.
Another man, actor Brandt Osborn, 42, was charged with being an accessory after the fact.
Pearce was already awaiting trial on charges of sexual assault on seven other women who were attacked between 2007 and 2020, prosecutors said.
A message left for Pearce's attorney, Jacob Glucksman, wasn't immediately returned Tuesday night. Glucksman previously told the Los Angeles Times that his client "adamantly and strongly denies any connection to these women's unfortunate deaths."
It wasn't immediately clear whether Osborn had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
Pearce was arrested in December in connection with the November deaths of model Christy Giles, 24, and her friend, architect Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola, 26.
Giles and Cabrales-Arzola were reportedly last seen attending an East Los Angeles warehouse party. Authorities believe they then went to Pearce's townhouse. Detectives said they believe both women were given drugs and overdosed.
Giles was found dead outside Southern California Hospital in Culver City after masked men in a car with no license plates dropped her there, police said.
Cabrales-Arzola was left at Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Hospital, where she died 11 days later after being removed from life support.
The Los Angeles County coroner's office found the women died from overdoses and had several drugs in their systems. The drugs included cocaine and fentanyl for Giles and cocaine and ecstasy for her friend.
"I realize that this will not bring any comfort necessarily to the Arzola family or the Giles family, but it will bring accountability," Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said Tuesday at a news conference announcing the charges.
CBS Los Angeles reports Gascón asked any other potential victims to notify the Los Angeles Police Department's West Homicide Bureau or the District Attorney's Office.
"We know that often survivors do not report sexual assault for a variety of reasons," Gascón said. "Sometimes they feel the system is not going to listen to them, sometimes they're afraid of their assailant, sometimes they feel ashamed, and we recognize that these are all factors that play a role. That is one of the reasons we're here to say to our community and certainly survivors out there that if you feel comfortable coming forward, we're here for you."
Giles' husband, Jan Cilliers, told The New York Post that he was relieved the DA had pressed charges.
"There can never be true justice for the death of Christy and Marcela," Cilliers said. "Nothing will ever bring them back, and their deaths will affect the rest of our lives. The best we can hope for now is that the full truth comes out and that they are put away for the maximum amount of time so they can no longer hurt anyone else."
